Local GM workers await further details on attrition program
Workers at General Motor’s assembly plant in Wentzville were informed of early details of a retirement and voluntary severance program the company announced today, said a local official the plant.
General Motors will offer an special attrition program to all 74,000 of its UAW-represented workers, the company said in a release. The more than 2,000 UAW members at GM’s plant were notified in a special newsletter distributed mid-morning at the plant, said Bob Wheeler, communications manager at the Wentzville plant.
GM is offering a buyout incentive of $140,000 to employees with 10 or more years of service with the company and $70,000 to those with less than 10 years service.
For those eligible to retire, the program offers a retirement pension incentive of $45,000 for production workers and $62,500 for skilled-trades workers.
Eligible employees can take the incentive in a lump-sum of cash, a monthly annuity, or put all or part of the money into a GM 401 (K) or an individual retirement account.
There are also plans for employees who are near retirement that allow them to retire now with a limited pension and full benefits and provide full pension when they reach eligibility.
What isn’t known yet is when employees will be able to sign up or how many employees will be eliminated through the program, said Bill Schiltz, chairman of UAW Local 2250, which represents workers at that plant.
Schiltz said UAW officials have been expecting an announcement and he anticipates all details will be explained by sometime next week.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Hardly a day goes by without hearing yet another story of a major American company going down. Interestingly, virtually every dying industry (auto, air, etc.) has a common denominator: unions.
For too long now, unions have strangled companies by demanding outlandish wages and benefits. Meanwhile, their non-union counterparts at Toyota and Honda have produced a superb vehicle and essentially outsmarted the unions.
My brother-in-law worked at the Ford Hazelwood plant for 25+ years. He told me stories on his union “brothers” who were caught stealing parts, sleeping on the job, or not showing up but about one out of five days….and not once was one of them fired because the good ‘ol UAW was there to protect them.
Is it any wonder these companies are going under? The unions blame it on people who buy Toyotas, who by the way are made in America. But the truth is that people want to buy the best made, most reliable vehicle for their money. And that “best made” vehicle is no longer a domestic one.
My father was a mechanical engineer for the Dept. of Defense. He frequently worked in Detroit with all the big 3 engineers. He told me the consensus among all the engineers - though none would say it publicly - was that Lexus was the world’s best made automobile.
If GM and others didn’t have to pay outrageous wages to inefficient “workers,” they could afford to sell vehicles at a more reasonable rate.